 El Alebrije (left) and Cuije in April 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1972-07-12)July 12, 1972 (age 53) |
Spouse | Tiffany (wife) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | El Alebrije King Imperio Kraneo Máscara Sagrada (II) Máscara de Oro |
| Billed height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 100 kg (220 lb) |
| Trained by | Ojo Diabólico El Magno |
| Debut | 1988 |
El Alebrije (born July 12, 1972) is a MexicanLuchadorenmascarado, or maskedprofessional wrestler, currently working forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) under thering nameKraneo. He best known for his work inAsistencia Asesoría y Administración, where he worked for 12 years as El Alebrije, along with hisMini-Estrella companionCuije. He has also played the role ofMáscara Sagrada II after theOriginal Máscara Sagrada left AAA. El Alebrije's real name is not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans.[1]
He made his debut under thering name King Imperio, before switching to another character called Máscara de Oro ("Gold Mask"). Later on, he changed his gimmick to Kraneo before going toAsistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA).[2]
He was brought to AAA because of the originalMáscara Sagrada's departure and was used to replace him as Máscara Sagrada II, a role he played for approximately one year. During that year, he won theMexican National Light Heavyweight Championship, defeatingPierroth Jr. to win the title.[3] The reign only lasted for less than a week because he would lose it toSangre Chicana.[3] In 1998 he was regimmicked as ElAlebrije, a more comedic ring character, teamed up withCuije, aMini-Estrella version of the El Alebrije character. The two would feud withMonsther andChucky for a long period of time. He also worked as aroad agent behind the scenes of AAA. His first title as El Alebrije was theUWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[4] On August 20, 2004, El Alebrije and Cuije won theAAA Mascot Tag Team Championship.[5] They both made history by being the third champions and having it for the longest reign. The title was vacated on April 7, 2009, due to both of them leaving AAA.[6] They only defended the AAA Mascot Tag Team Title a limited number of times in the 1,691 days they held the title.
After leaving AAA Alebrije and Cuije began working on the Mexicanindependent circuit, especially forInternational Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) andPerros del Mal Producciones.[2] El Alebrije and Cuije made their first appearance for thePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania basedChikara as part of the2010 King of Trios tournament that ran from April 23 to 25 atThe Arena in Philadelphia. For the tournament Cuije wrestled alongside Alebrije and their partnerEl Oriental as TeamPerros del Mal. After defeating "Team Delicioso" (Curry Man, El Hijo del Ice Cream and Ice Cream Jr.) in their opening round match, TeamPerros del Mal was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals by DerBruderschaft des Kreuzes (Ares,Claudio Castagnoli and Tursas).[7][8]
On April 12, 2010, a contingent of former AAA wrestlers including El Alebrije, Cuije,Histeria,Psicosis II andManiaco appeared on aConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) show inPuebla, Puebla. The group drown into the arena in a blackSUV and attackedLa Sombra,El Hijo del Fantasma andLa Máscara after they just finished wrestling.Brazo de Plata,Místico andJon Strongman tried to help out but were kept away by CMLLrudosAverno,El Texano Jr. andEl Terrible. Following the attack the former AAA wrestlers returned to the SUV and left the arena.[9] The group made several subsequent attacks during CMLL shows, including running in during their Sunday NightArena México show, indicating that the storyline was not limited to just the Puebla area. After weeks of run-ins the group, dubbedLos Independientes or "The Independents" after the Independent circuit, wrestled their first match for CMLL. In their debut for CMLL on April 26, 2010, El Alebrije, Histeria and Psicosis defeated El Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara and La Sombra.[10] On May 10, 2010, during a match betweenLos Independientes and CMLL wrestlers former CMLL and AAA wrestlersUniverso 2000 andMáscara Año 2000 ran in to helpLos Independientes beat up on their opponents, taking their side in the storyline between independent wrestlers and CMLL.[11] The team was later renamedLos Invasores ("The Invaders").[12] During a trios match between El Alebrije, Histeria II and Maniaco and the team ofHéctor Garza, Brazo de Plata andToscano, Garza turned on his teammates and joinedLos Invasores.[12] On May 16, 2010, Psicosis wrestled against La Sombra in a match that saw the surprise appearance of bothMr. Águila andRayo de Jalisco Jr. Mr. Águila returned to CMLL to side with Los Independientes while Rayo de Jalisco Jr. ended up siding with CMLL in their war against the outsider group.[13] The following day inArena ColiseoOlímpico returned to CMLL and attackedMáximo during the main event of the show, at the time it was not clear if he had actually joined the group of outsiders or not.[12] CMLL later held a press conference announcing that they would hold a specialSin Salida event on June 6, 2010, that would center around theLos Invasores vs. CMLL storyline. During the press conference Olímpico was part of theInvasores group. It was also announced that Garza and Mr. Águila were the co-leaders of the group.[12] On July 12, 2010, at thePromociones Gutiérrez 1st Anniversary Show El Alebrije participated in a match where 10 men put their mask on the line in a match that featured fivepareja incredibles teams, with the losing team being forced to wrestle each other with their mask on the line. His partner in the match wasVolador Jr., facing off against the teams ofAtlantis and Olímpico, Místico and El Oriental, Histeria and La Sombra,Último Guerrero and Averno.[14] Volador Jr. and El Alebrije was the second team to escape the match. In the end Místico defeated El Oriental to unmask him.[15] On August 16, 2010, it was announced that El Alebrije was one of 14 men putting their mask on the line in aLuchas de Apuestassteel cage match, the main event of theCMLL 77th Anniversary Show.[16] El Alebrije was the fourth man to leave the steel cage at the same time as his fellowInvasor Histeria, keeping both their masks safe. Both El Alebrije and Histeria returned to the cage to help their partners but were eventually removed by officials. The match came down to La Sombra pinning Olímpico to unmask him.[17] On December 16, 2012, Alebrije, now working under his new ring name of Kraneo, won his first title in CMLL, when he and fellowInvasores Mr Águila and Psicosis defeatedLos Reyes de la Atlantida (Atlantis,Delta andGuerrero Maya Jr. for theMexican National Trios Championship.[18] In the months following their Mexican National Trios championship victoryLos Invasores began a storyline feud with the holders of theCMLL World Trios Championship,El Bufete del Amor ("The Law of Love";Marco Corleone, Maximo andRush), including a couple of matches forLa Bufete's CMLL title, but not forLos Invasores Mexican National Trios title.[19] Kraneo was forced to team up with rival Marco Corleone for the 2013Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament") where the concept was that rivals would team up for a tag team tournament. Kraneo and Corleone lost in the first round of the tournament toShocker andMr. Niebla as the two were unable to get along.[20][21] On June 30,Los Invasores lost the Mexican National Trios Championship to La Máscara, Rush andTitán.[22]
In early April 2010, El Alebrije and Histeria sought legal action against AAA over the issues of name and ring character ownership as well as unfair termination by AAA. The two claimed that they have wrestled for 13 years to create the characters and thus owned them. The parties met in Mexico City's Board of Conciliation and Arbitration to see if a settlement could be reached or if the matter would have to be taken to court.[23] The parties met for a second arbitration meeting in late April 2010. This time the plaintiff group was joined byLatin Lover who, like Alebrije, Histeria and the others, claimed that he should be allowed to use the name since he's worked as Latin Lover for 18 years and thus should be allowed to continue using it. After the meeting it was stated that all parties involved were cooperating over the matter.[24] In January 2012, CMLL repackaged both Alebrije and Histeria with new ring characters. Alebrije returned to performing under the Kraneo gimmick, while Cuije was renamed Mije.[25][26][27] On June 21, 2012, AAA announced it was bringing back the El Alebrije and Cuije characters under new performers.[28]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraneo (mask) | Tormenta Negra (mask) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | August 6, 1995 | |
| Kraneo (mask) | Sable (mask) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | December 17, 1995 | |
| Máscara Sagrada (mask) | Popitekus (hair) | Tlalnepantla, State of Mexico | Live event | August 23, 1998 | |
| Abismo Negro (hair) | El Alebrije (hair) | Tijuana, Baja California | Live event | January 9, 2007 | [a][30] |
| Monster (hair) | El Alebrije (hair) | Tijuana, Baja California | Live event | April 14, 2008 | [a] |
| El Alebrije (mask) | Mr. Infierno (mask) | Mazatlan, Sinaloa | Live event | June 6, 2008 |
